Director Column

IBC director's monthly column featured in Cattleman Magazine. Archives
	June 2026 Recent trends for yardage at Midwest feedlots Yardage is a charge cattle feeding operations assign to non-feed related expenses associated when feeding cattle to market weight. While this amount generally increases linearly over time, the rate of increase has become steeper the past several years. In general, yardage is calculated as daily non-feed costs divided by the number of animal head days. Yardage charges are highly variable and specific to each operation depending on what non-feed expenses are included and occupied capacity of the facility (% of potential head days occupied). Common Fixed Operating Expenses Included in Yardage: These include taxes, insurance, and depreciation on facilities and equipment. Age and type of facility cattle are fed in is going to influence these expenses. These expenses are incurred regardless of whether or not cattle occupy the facility so fixed yardage costs are heavily influenced by the percentage of potential animaldays that the facility is occupied. Fixed costs are diluted as the percentage of time that a facility is at full occupancy increases because the fixed costs are divided over greater animaldays. Common Variable Operating Expenses Included in Yardage: These include fuel, utilities, labor, animal processing and veterinary services, office expenses including software and computers for necessary record keeping, repairs, and interest if financing is needed. For many Midwestern farmer feeders, equipment is shared between the cropping and cattle feeding operations. It is important to properly allocate this equipment expense based on the proportion of time it is used in the cattle feeding operation to have a good assessment of the cattle feeding operation’s cost share. Facility Occupancy. Facility occupancy influences yardage calculations because the greater percent occupancy the costs are spread over a greater number of animaldays. A 500 head facility has potential occupancy capacity of 182,500 animaldays if occupied the entire year. If a facility is only used for one 500 head turn of 200-day cattle, the facility is only occupied 55% of the potential animaldays. While fewer turns means fewer variable costs. It also means fewer animaldays over which to spread fixed costs and yardage per animal increases. For feeder-owned cattle feeding operations, it is good to have a handle on yardage associated with your specific cattle feeding operation for the economic viability of a cattle feeding operation and for making sound business decisions about marketing cattle and potential expansion. If considering feeding cattle custom, it is important to know what expenses are included in the yardage fee charged and what fees may be separated from the daily yardage charge and charged in a specific line item charge. Some custom yards will bill veterinary or chute charges separate from daily yardage. Bedding and trucking charges also at times are included in yardage and other times charged separate. Yardage Trends for Midwest Feedlots. Iowa Beef Center uses Feedlot Monitoring Software to track cattle at various locations throughout the Midwest. These data provide a good benchmark for assessing various aspects of cattle feeding in the Midwest. Figure 1 below illustrates yardage charges that have been observed using the Feedlot Monitoring Software from 2017 through 2025. These data are from a total of 1,856 pen closeouts in Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota representing 307,548 total yearlings (240,488 steers and 67,060 heifers). Both a linear and quadratic lines were fitted to the data with the quadratic line having the best fit (R2 0.93). The quadratic fit indicates a steeper increase in yardage beginning in 2023. This reflects post-COVID inflation, increased interest with higher priced feeder calves and longer carrying time from longer-fed cattle, increased labor costs as well as a trend for a greater proportion of cattle being fed in confinement with infrastructure expenses being greater than that of open lot pens. The yardage reflected in Figure 1, taken from the Feedlot Monitoring database, is inclusive of all non-feed related charges per head per day and it does not have additional itemized chute. Summary. Yardage is a charge assigned for non-feed expenses associated with feeding cattle. Yardage is highly variable and it is important for individual feedlots to asses a yardage fee that aligns with non-feed expenses specific to their operation. Yardage is highly variable depending on what expenses are included and the percent occupancy of the yard over which expenses can be spread. Iowa Beef Center Feedlot Monitoring Software benchmark data indicate a steeper rate of yardage increase for Midwestern feedlots since 2023. This trend is most likely the result of inflation, increased interest expenses, increased labor costs, and higher infrastructure expenses included in yardage. The IBC at Iowa State University serves as the university’s extension program to cattle producers. Our center comprises a team of faculty and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. We work together to develop and deliver the latest in research-based information to improve the profitability and vitality of Iowa’s beef industry. If you’d like to be notified of updates on progress of research projects or programs that might be coming to your area, please subscribe to our “Growing Beef” newsletter by following the link on our website, www.iowabeefcenter.org. If you have a question, use our “Ask our Experts” link. Also, feel free to call us at 515-294-BEEF or email us at beefcenter@iastate.edu. You can follow @iowabeefcenter on Facebook, X, YouTube, and Instagram.

IBC director's monthly column featured in Cattleman Magazine. Archives

June 2026

Recent trends for yardage at Midwest feedlots

Yardage is a charge cattle feeding operations assign to non-feed related expenses associated when feeding cattle to market weight. While this amount generally increases linearly over time, the rate of increase has become steeper the past several years. In general, yardage is calculated as daily non-feed costs divided by the number of animal head days. Yardage charges are highly variable and specific to each operation depending on what non-feed expenses are included and occupied capacity of the facility (% of potential head days occupied).

Common Fixed Operating Expenses Included in Yardage: These include taxes, insurance, and depreciation on facilities and equipment. Age and type of facility cattle are fed in is going to influence these expenses. These expenses are incurred regardless of whether or not cattle occupy the facility so fixed yardage costs are heavily influenced by the percentage of potential animal*days that the facility is occupied. Fixed costs are diluted as the percentage of time that a facility is at full occupancy increases because the fixed costs are divided over greater animal*days.

Common Variable Operating Expenses Included in Yardage: These include fuel, utilities, labor, animal processing and veterinary services, office expenses including software and computers for necessary record keeping, repairs, and interest if financing is needed. For many Midwestern farmer feeders, equipment is shared between the cropping and cattle feeding operations. It is important to properly allocate this equipment expense based on the proportion of time it is used in the cattle feeding operation to have a good assessment of the cattle feeding operation’s cost share.

Facility Occupancy. Facility occupancy influences yardage calculations because the greater percent occupancy the costs are spread over a greater number of animal*days. A 500 head facility has potential occupancy capacity of 182,500 animal*days if occupied the entire year. If a facility is only used for one 500 head turn of 200-day cattle, the facility is only occupied 55% of the potential animal*days. While fewer turns means fewer variable costs. It also means fewer animal*days over which to spread fixed costs and yardage per animal increases.

For feeder-owned cattle feeding operations, it is good to have a handle on yardage associated with your specific cattle feeding operation for the economic viability of a cattle feeding operation and for making sound business decisions about marketing cattle and potential expansion. If considering feeding cattle custom, it is important to know what expenses are included in the yardage fee charged and what fees may be separated from the daily yardage charge and charged in a specific line item charge. Some custom yards will bill veterinary or chute charges separate from daily yardage. Bedding and trucking charges also at times are included in yardage and other times charged separate.

Yardage Trends for Midwest Feedlots. Iowa Beef Center uses Feedlot Monitoring Software to track cattle at various locations throughout the Midwest. These data provide a good benchmark for assessing various aspects of cattle feeding in the Midwest. Figure 1 below illustrates yardage charges that have been observed using the Feedlot Monitoring Software from 2017 through 2025. These data are from a total of 1,856 pen closeouts in Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota representing 307,548 total yearlings (240,488 steers and 67,060 heifers). Both a linear and quadratic lines were fitted to the data with the quadratic line having the best fit (R2 0.93). The quadratic fit indicates a steeper increase in yardage beginning in 2023. This reflects post-COVID inflation, increased interest with higher priced feeder calves and longer carrying time from longer-fed cattle, increased labor costs as well as a trend for a greater proportion of cattle being fed in confinement with infrastructure expenses being greater than that of open lot pens. The yardage reflected in Figure 1, taken from the Feedlot Monitoring database, is inclusive of all non-feed related charges per head per day and it does not have additional itemized chute.

Figure 1. Midwest Feedlot Yardage Benchmark 2017-2025

Summary. Yardage is a charge assigned for non-feed expenses associated with feeding cattle. Yardage is highly variable and it is important for individual feedlots to asses a yardage fee that aligns with non-feed expenses specific to their operation. Yardage is highly variable depending on what expenses are included and the percent occupancy of the yard over which expenses can be spread. Iowa Beef Center Feedlot Monitoring Software benchmark data indicate a steeper rate of yardage increase for Midwestern feedlots since 2023. This trend is most likely the result of inflation, increased interest expenses, increased labor costs, and higher infrastructure expenses included in yardage.

The IBC at Iowa State University serves as the university’s extension program to cattle producers. Our center comprises a team of faculty and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. We work together to develop and deliver the latest in research-based information to improve the profitability and vitality of Iowa’s beef industry. If you’d like to be notified of updates on progress of research projects or programs that might be coming to your area, please subscribe to our “Growing Beef” newsletter by following the link on our website, www.iowabeefcenter.org. If you have a question, use our “Ask our Experts” link. Also, feel free to call us at 515-294-BEEF or email us at beefcenter@iastate.edu. You can follow @iowabeefcenter on Facebook, X, YouTube, and Instagram.